A Gamer Mind
by Miss Maia
Summary: Summary: Jean Grey is a very patient girl. She's also intelligent and let's not even start with the whole "psycho talents" topic. It's only natural that she's a born observer. When watching people becomes a hobby, it even turns into a game for her. But some minds are not that easy to observe.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own the _X-Men;_ this is just an attempt at fun by playing with someone else's toys.

**Summary: **_Jean __Grey is a very patient girl. She's also intelligent and let's not even start with the whole "psycho talents" topic. It's only natural that she's a born observer. When watching people becomes a hobby, it even turns into a game for her. But some minds are not that easy to observe._

_Jean's thoughts are in italics._

* * *

**A Gamer Mind**

Observation can be developed as an art: the art of studying the human behavior. When you can catalogue the actions of a human being, you can even start to predict person from making certain decisions; how the brain works to achieve a goal or how it deals with its choices. Computer Cognition, for example. It studies human and animal behavior, then writes it down on a piece of paper and does an algorithm precise enough to implant this living conduct into something as idiot as a computer. Considering this complexity, with a lot of luck and technology, you can make a computer behave the exact same as a... fly. A dumb fly. That's why observation is more of an art than an exact science; because, through observation, you can even start to predict human behavior. What someone will do, how they will do it, and why they will do it.

Human actions are pretty hard to forecast, but mutant behavior? That's a definite challenge for even the world's greatest mathematicians! Or the world's greatest observers! Or... or whatever, it's not at all that difficult if you have a lot of patience, intelligence and have psycho talents. Oh well, that is a contradiction. Forget the above; it's still extremely hard.

Jean Grey is a very patient girl. She's also intelligent and let's not even start with her "psychic talents". It's only natural that she's a born observer. At first it wasn't her choice: different thoughts always flooded her troubled mind ever since the early years of adolescence. No matter how hard Professor Xavier worked with her; she still couldn't block all the thoughts that traveled through the air. Accepting this, she took to learning from them instead. She learned how people think, why they say the things they say, what they think when they say something, and what they actually wanted to say instead; the choices one makes every day, from electing your favorite dinner to choosing which blouse to wear to work. Jean Grey is growing to be one of the few people in the world that fully understands the human (and mutant) behavior.

But nowadays it's not just a matter of "uncontrolled thoughts". It's almost a... a hobby. Yeah, a hobby. Better yet, a game! Jean likes to watch people and predict their behavior. Which dish will the blonde lady choose? What is Scott going to say to motivate the distressed Iceman? Which movie is Kitty going to bring for Friday night? Oh, just kidding, the last one is not that difficult; she's obviously bringing a Star Wars.

The fact that she sometimes uses her telepathic powers to check if she is right is just a side effect of her addiction; that is, "hobby". She never goes further than just checking if her assumption is right. Well, most of the times. Okay, it's fifty-fifty.

* * *

Today was a perfect day for Jean's game. The sun was bright in the sky, shinning with all its summer vigor; or at least it had been up until an hour ago. The rain came suddenly, and the clouds destroyed any student's notion of spending the Sunday outside. Evan begged Ororo to bring forth the sun again, but the Weather Goddess was not one for changing the nature's course without a good reason. And that was why most of the students were in the Recreation Room, occupying themselves with all kinds of games. It was a perfect game board for Jean's hobby.

She took a seat in the corner of the room, where she had a view of all those who were present. Kurt and Hank were arranging the chess table, and the Professor had already found a good spot to watch their game. Kitty was holding a box with a dragon on the cover, and Jean could hear the word "RPG" coming out the brunette's mouth when Piotr and Rogue sat on the floor next to Katherine. That would be interesting. Bobby and the New Mutants were fighting over what game to play on the television, and what console to use. Jean believed that PS3 would be the winner. Scott was solemnly cleaning the coffee table to play Scrabble with Wolverine. Jean slimed to herself as she prepared to prevent her friend's actions.

"There are twelve dice. For each action you should toss a dice, and then you compare it with the probability of your character being able to or not –"

"Cut the crap, Kitty. Let's just play and ya can teach us during the game," Rogue cut in impatiently, ignoring Kitty's frown that followed her remark.

"I'm the master of this game, like, I'm the one that should dictate –"

"Wow, this dice has twelve sides!" Piotr was the one that interrupted Kitty this time. He blushed a little when the petite girl frowned even more at him.

_She will give up; Kitty only supports an idea as long as the majority of the people around her does. At least, that's how she behaves here in the Mansion,_ Jean thought to herself.

"Okay, fine! Just pick up your character and let's start to play it!" Kitty said while using her powers to phase* her arm through the box to extract pencils and sheets of paper from it. Rogue raised an eyebrow and opened the box to retrieve her own pencil and paper.

_And here comes the spicy remark._

"Just don't make it sound like rainbow forest filled with unicorns, 'kay?" the southerner said with a pleased smile, receiving Kitty's answer in the form of a thrown ball of crumpled paper.

_Bingo. _

This trio would be the easiest one in the room. Jean knew that their actions wouldn't be that difficult to predict. She searched around the room and locked her eyes in the deep blue of Beast's pelage. That would be a bigger challenge.

_Beast is always a gentleman. _

"You can play with the white pieces, Kurt. The first move is yours," Hank turned the board so the black team would be his.

"I'm not that bad at chess, Beast," Kurt's toothy smile widened as he said, "you may even be surprised by my moves."

"We'll see," Hank said and smiled, as did Professor Xavier.

_The truth is that Kurt has no idea of what he's doing. He probably played chess a few times in High School, but he doesn't know anything further than the "Ruy Lopez"**. This game will only last as long as Hank enjoys harmlessly provoking Kurt._

Jean sighed when a furred finger touched the white pawn. She watched as Hank's lips curled up an infinitesimal amount to disguise a grin.

_And there goes the black pawn._

The doctor caressed the piece before making a mirrored movement.

Jean took a deep breath and massaged her temples. She used a green hair tie to pull her redhead hair into a high ponytail. Then she looked at the biggest challenge in the room: Scott Summers.

He was supposed to be the easiest one. C'mon, it was Scott Summers here! The man who always wore white socks on Fridays and had a superstition to wear brown boxers when it was raining! He was supposed to be the easiest one to predict, his thoughts the easiest ones to guess, and his actions the easiest to estimate. But he had turned out to be Jean's most difficult challenge, and at the same time, the most fun. He always wore that poker face, that expressionless smile and those ruby-covered eyes. Jean knew that it'd be easier if she could see his eyes; if she could read what that crimson gleam could show. But she couldn't; no one could. Even when she was close to his face, nose to nose, she couldn't see what was hidden behind in the depth of his eyes.

Jean blamed the thickness of Scott's goggles for her inability to predict his actions. But his glasses were not the main reason. One day, after a not-so-fun Danger Room session with Wolverine, Jean was about to enter the girl's locker room. She was innocently disarranging her ponytail and laughing casually at Kitty's remarks. It only lasted a brief second, but she saw him with the corner of her eyes. Scott was standing at the opposite side of the DR, ready to enter the men's locker room. He was holding the doorframe, half of his body already inside, but he wasn't entering before he'd finished watching her. His mouth was a thin line, and his cheeks were flushed from the previous exercises. Jean didn't know why, but just seeing him there, completely still and most likely looking at _her_, made her breathing hitch. She couldn't see his eyes, she never could, but she just _knew_ he was looking at her; devouring her, drinking her in, savoring her. And it hit her, strong enough to break her stalling and make her enter the locker room and try to ignore her racing heartbeat. She had reached for his mind, trying to play her game.

_He's probably worried that I got injured during the training_, she had thought. But the image Scott carelessly sent her was not of preoccupation. It was pure, raw, intense and breathtaking sex. Jean never let her mental blocks down around him after that.

And there it was again, his poker face. His steady fingers moving over the letters; his leader's mind creating a strategy to win more points each round. It was almost hilarious compared to Wolverine's moves. The Canadian was spread over the armchair next to the coffee table, an opened beer in one of his hands. But his eyes were as sharp as Scott's probably were under his ruby lenses. These two never took it easy in any game; everything turned out to be a matter of life and death for them. Last weekend they had played ping-pong until three in the morning. Logan still complained that Scott's last point wasn't fair.

_Logan will place the beer can on the board, just to annoy Scott._

"I'll go get another one. Do ya want some?" Wolverine asked as he sat the empty beer can on the coffee table, getting up to head for the kitchen.

"You know I don't drink." Scott didn't even bother to look up at him.

"Oh right, yer nineteen. I keep forgettin' yer a bunch of kids."

Jean was the only one who noticed Scott's small grin. She just hoped they wouldn't get into a fight.

"I want to go in the tomb!" Rogue's raised voice called the redhead's attention.

_Okay, back to the trio._

"I'm just saying that maybe it's not a good idea," Kitty rolled her eyes, jotting down a few words on her sheet of paper.

"Kit, I did what that "mysterious note" asked for: I entered the graveyard, after scaling the mountains' summit. And now I want to see what's in the tomb; maybe it's a prize or somethin'. Now roll that dice."

"It's not possible to steal from the graveyard!" the shorter girl retorted, closing her small hand around the dice. "I didn't make the story for this. I really thought you wouldn't be able to get to the summit..." Kitty mumbled this last sentence almost to herself.

_No one can stop Rogue from getting what she wants._

Piotr was quietly watching the two girls arguing. His blue eyes were moving between them as they argued.

"Look," Rogue continued, "I have a luck with dices, ya see? Now, since I can, you're gonna let me enter this tomb and maybe win this pathetic game. Now roll the damn dice." She blew her white bangs aside before reaching for the dice with her gloved hand.

_And now Kitty will surrender. Again. _

"Okay, okay, just stop it! You entered the tomb and there's a zombie there. Try to see if your Valkyrie can defeat it."

_I should have guessed Rogue would pick up a character like a Valkyrie... _

"Finally!" Rogue rolled the dice, and Jean could see how relieved Piotr was to not have to pick sides.

_Back to the chess game... well, Hank is already finishing it! That was faster than I had anticipated._

Hank was wearing a satisfied grin as Kurt studied the board in front of him. No matter what move the Elf would make, there would be some strategically placed piece ready to take his king.

_As predicated: Kurt indeed has no idea of what he's doing, and just spent the last ten minutes amusing both Hank and the Professor. _

Kurt's three fingered hand hovered over his white king, tapping it lightly, just enough to make the piece fall.

"Checkmate, mein Freund," the German said with a resigned nod, "Now, if you two excuse me, I'm going to make the 2pm lunch." He gave a casual bow, then disappeared in his trademark cloud of purple smoke that accompanied his teleportation.

"Didn't we just have lunch?" Hank said between a quiet laugh, and the Professor was quick to join him.

When Jean turned towards Scott again, Wolverine was already back with two new beers.

""Bohea" is not a word!" Scott said, but his voice was even.

"Of course it is," Logan finished his beer before continuing, "and it's pronounced "Bo-hay"."

_Wow, I didn't see this one coming. Nice one Logan. But of course, Scott won't let it pass this easily._

"What is it, a nineteenth century word?"

"Yeah." Logan tried to disguise his grin while he opened another can of beer. If someone in the room would know the vocab from the nineteenth century, it'd be someone who had actually been alive at the time.

"I need to check if it's correct, to see if the game's rules allow it," Scott started to search for the game rules in the forgotten box leaning against one of the coffee table's legs.

"For God's sake, kid, accept it!"

_Oh no. He's going to ask me, and I really don't want to be in the middle of –_

"Jean, tell Scott how "Bohea" is a valid word," Logan called for Jean, who had to pretend she was not paying attention to everything they were saying.

"Bo-what?" she asked nonchalantly, looking at the screen where the New Mutants were playing a race game.

"Bohea. Is it a valid word?" Scott asked her.

"I think so. It was mostly used in England in the eighteenth century. It is a variety of tea," Jean answered in her most professional tone, not wanting to take any sides in this game.

Logan grinned at Scott, who just snorted. "If yer girlfriend says so, ya have to accept it."

Scott blushed, but let it go this time.

"I told you not to enter the tomb," Kitty crossed her arms as Rogue mumbled a few curses. "Now you character will, like, die if you don't get out of there. Roll the dice."

"What's the dice for?" Their game was interrupted by Kurt's suddenly appearance, and now Rogue cursed out loud as she was engulfed in the sulfur smell that always accompanied the German's powers.

"We're playing a RPG," Piotr explained to his friend, offering a place next to him. "What's that?" the Russian asked as Kurt pushed another spoon full of soup into his mouth.

"I don't know, someone made a soup, and it was at the fridge. It's good."

"It's Piotr's, it's cabbage soup," Kitty chimed in, "Soup is a very popular dish in Russia." She smiled to Colossus. The giant just blushed.

"But be careful, tovarish. It can make you... gassy."

"Please put it down!" Rogue called in fake drama. "Ya already smell bad with yer powers, Kurt."

"Shut up..." Kurt said while 'bamfing'*** away from the laughing trio.

Jean hugged a cushion on her armchair. The behavior of her friends were not difficult to predict. She knew Rogue would end up winning the game, and that Piotr would take Kitty's side when the two girls start to argue. She knew the new round of chess which the Professor and Hank had just started would last at least a couple of hours. She also knew Scott would forcefully protest any rare word Logan would suggest. And she knew Logan would _only _suggest rare words just to have the pleasure of seeing Scott getting pissed off.

She rested her glance at Scott's frame again. He was massaging the nape of his neck, like he always did when he was thinking. She didn't need to read his thoughts to know he was searching for a very ancient word in an attempt to impress Logan. Because his last word, "llama", was not that impressive. Playing her Observing game was fun, but trying to predict Scott was the best part of it. She didn't think she'd ever master that art: the art of knowing what was going on in Scott's head. She smiled along with him as he made a good play, internally celebrating more than his sober expression showed.

But Jean was intelligent and patient. Maybe someday she would master this art too.

* * *

**Author's Note: **It's been a long time since I wrote anything for the X-Men fandom. I hope this was a good comeback.

Special thanks to the betareaders: **mangagurlz **and **CladInPink**.

Thank you for reading,

Maia

* reference to Katherine's powers.

**Ruy Lopez: a common chess opening.

*** reference to Kurt's teleportation powers.


End file.
